Bearly a Valentine

February the fourteenth meant very little to Walter and Alex. When you’ve battled aliens that spewed toxic goo, little grey men, the shriveled up old men of a Consortium who had delusions of grandeur, shape shifters, assorted other monsters, a Fox and his red-headed doctor-agent-wife, the minor love miracles that Valentine’s Day conjures up hold little interest for these two men.

Taking a threat of a massive snowstorm seriously, Walter and Alex were kept busy for most of the day preparing their ranch and barn. Walter drove off early into town for any last minute provisions including extra fuel for their backup generator. Alex was busy moving the chicken coop into the barn. He mucked out the stalls, filled the troughs for the horses and cows and left out enough feed for a week for the chickens.

As he waited for Walter to come back, Alex moved a cord of wood closer to the kitchen door and brought in extra for their fireplace. As an afterthought Alex ran back to the barn to gather up extra eggs. He remembered to leave a couple of eggs near the bale of hay that had become home to the little vixen that had adopted them. Satisfied the animals would all be safe, Alex secured the barn doors.

“What took you so long?” Alex said as Walter came through the door with bags of groceries in his arms. Alex began to help stow their provisions.

“Got cornered by the sheriff before I left town. Since the roads might get snowed over, he gave me a couple portable radios. They’re distributing radios to the surrounding farmers just in case we lose power. The radios run off a battery.” Walter held up a radio and extra batteries. “The sheriff knows how resourceful we can be at times. He’s hoping we’ll help out our neighbors if necessary.”

“Walter, our nearest neighbor is three miles away. Does he think we can fly?” Alex snarked. Walter gave Alex a look. “Fine. Let me plug these in to keep them charged just in case,” Alex said grabbing the radios and battery packs.

By the time the first snowflakes began swirling around the countryside, the men and the ranch were well prepared. There was already six inches on the ground as they cooked dinner, over twelve by the time they got ready for bed.

“Shit!” Alex exclaimed as he stood by the window. “The truck is almost buried; reminds me of Siberia.” Alex cursed and shivered.

“It is what it is, Alex. Cursing at it isn’t going to stop the snow from falling.”

“Yeah, but it makes me feel better.”

“Okay, if it makes you feel better, curse away,” Walter chuckled.

“Thank you, Walter.” Alex muttered a few more choice words in Russian before he closed the drapes then got into bed.

“Oh, I almost forgot, I got you something while I was in town,” Walter said jumping out of bed to look in his pants pocket. “Here.” Walter handed Alex a bar of Godiva dark chocolate.

Alex smiled deeply revealing his dimples. He carefully unwrapped a corner of the bar inhaled the rich aroma then took a bite. “Mmm. Thank you, Walter.” Alex offered some of his treasure to Walter. Walter declined knowing how much Alex loved his chocolate.

Walter watched with glee as the little boy that was hidden within the assassin took another bite before re-wrapping the bar.

“You’re not going to finish it?” Walter asked as he watched Alex stow the rest of the bar in his bedside dresser.

“Unh unh, I'd rather prolong the ecstasy.”

“Okay. As long as you’re happy.”

“I am.” Alex gave Walter a chocolate flavored kiss. The kiss led to more kisses then to lovemaking.

Afterwards, the men snuggled together under their thick quilt as the blizzard raged on outside.

“Walter, what’s the occasion?”

“Hmm?”

“The occasion for giving me the chocolate, not that I’m complaining,” Alex said.

“It’s Valentine’s Day. Or it was fifteen minutes ago,” Walter said as he squinted at the clock. “I had forgotten all about it until I walked into the general store. Emma had the place decked out in valentines and cupids. We’re not really the hearts and flowers type but I know how much you like your chocolate.” Alex smiled then he frowned. “What’s wrong?”

“I didn’t get you anything.”

“Alex, we’ve never celebrated Valentine’s Day. It’s not even a real holiday.” Walter kissed Alex’s pixie nose then chuckled as he rubbed his thumb over the frown wrinkle on Alex’s forehead. “Come on, Alex, forgetting about Valentine’s Day is not a disaster. That blizzard out there is. If it keeps up, we’re going to be snowed in for a week.”

Suddenly Alex smiled, his emerald green eyes twinkling.

“What?” Walter asked.

“A week snowed in with my favorite valentine, I can’t think of anything better than that.” Alex rubbed himself against his bear.

“I might be able to come up with a few ideas. I am very resourceful. The sheriff said so,” Walter commented as he grabbed a paw full of rat.

Walter and Alex wrestled for dominance. The bear’s muscular power pitted against the skills and agility of the rat. The rat won this round with his own resourcefulness, finding the bear’s tickle spot. The lovers laughed until exhausted.

“Alex, I have no need for gifts,” Walter said when he finally caught his breath. “Our life here together is all the present I’ll ever want.”

Alex took Walter’s hand and placed it over his heart. Walter understood the gesture.

“So does this mean that next year I won’t be getting hearts and flowers?” Walter teased. It took only a second for the rat to pounce.

The fight was back on, neither man caring who’d be victorious nor how long they’d be snowed in.
 

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